Where is Bhutan?

If you are like many people, you are asking your self... "Where is Bhutan?" So I invited myself to observe the global map and landscape of Bhutan as seems from space. I wanted to really trace the borders of it's neighboring countries and explore the geography. As I did this I was asking myself what the view will tell me about the place I will call home from January to June.

I made a little dance with GOOGLE EARTH, scrolling in and out of the world map, taking in the contour of the Himalayas as they crest the clavicle of India's northern border with Nepal. The snowy mountain peaks make a strong and distinct line between a very green nook of the planet with a very desolate desert of Tibet. At the tail of the ridge's range, the crystal caps swoop over the northern border of Bhutan encapsulating it between Tibet and Bangladesh.

Bhutan is a nestled collection of valleys, veining off of this enchanting, elevated chain of topography. Each valley isolating it's villagers just enough to create unique and intimate cultures which I am excited to explore. My own little valley, while abroad, will be in Trongsa. Many miles in the distance will be a majestic peek at Gasa, a 9,300ft, chiseled pinnacle of the Himalayan mountain range. What an enchanting object of meditation this vast landscape will invite!

So what does this geographical visualization make me realize about my journey? What expectations does it lead me to have about the land I will call home for six months?

As a Coloradan, and then New Yorker I cannot say that I know much about such a forested landscape. I am enchanted to see the kinds of foliage and greenery that survive this high desert. Temperatures will be cool and elevations high with little oxygen. But the shift-shaping of the mountain range invites a playful and childlike take on Earth. It invites cherished nooks and sweet isolations. Its curvy and feminine in it's complex and integrated ribcage of mountain diversity. Such landscape is a ravishing demonstration of Organic Inspiration. It brings its people innate challenge -- challenge to invent, envision and dream.